Mystery lovers will recognize Nancy Pickard, 71, as the author of the Jenny Cain and Marie Lightfoot series. Her novels and short stories have won or been nominated for virtually every award given to mystery writers, from the Agatha to the Shamus, and she has served on the Mystery Writers of America board and co-founded Sisters in Crime, which promotes female mystery writers. She is currently writing her 19th novel and anticipating the release of the first movie to be made from one of her books. The Scent of Rain and Lightning premieres this weekend at the Atlanta Film Festival.

You started in journalism. Why did you switch to writing fiction?

I became a fiction writer out of the blue. It hit me like lightning that I wanted to be a mystery novelist. My first published book, Generous Death, started the Jenny Cain series and was released December 17, 1983—the same day my only son was born. It was an amazing creative year!

You’re a native and resident of Kansas City, Missouri. Why did you set the Jenny Cain series in New England and the Marie Lightfoot series in Florida?

When I started writing fiction, nobody was buying mysteries set in small-town mid-America, so I set them in places I’d like to live. These days readers seem happy to read books set anywhere, and I’ve finally been able to come home in my novels.

What inspired the story of The Scent of Rain and Lightning?

It’s what happens when good people misuse their power and influence, and then tragedy ensues. It’s the story of a wealthy and powerful family being humbled. I was also fascinated by how much in common at a profound level the children of parents who have been murdered have with the children of those who murdered them. They both feel abandoned and wronged; they both suffer consequences.

Have you seen the film version of the book?

I saw a private showing in Beverly Hills last November for the actors, their agents, the writers, director and anyone else involved. I was thrilled. I sat there feeling incredibly tense through the whole movie, and I already know how it ends! I had also spent a great Sunday on the set during filming near Oklahoma City in the fall of 2015.

What’s your typical Sunday like when you’re not on a movie set?

The things I do on Sunday inspire me for the rest of the week. I start by taking my 100-year-old mother to her church, where the minister is skilled at fearless thinking and great storytelling, inspiring my imagination and my faith. In the afternoon, I babysit for my granddaughter, go to a friend’s home for a gathering of women talking about meaningful things, take a walk on a pretty day or, during baseball season, watch the Royals. I love watching people who are really good at what they do, and so those athletes inspire me too.

In the evening, I go out to dinner with friends at my favorite restaurant, called Story, where on Sunday the chef takes the most ordinary and least expensive ingredients to create a $10 extraordinary entree. Once again, I feel inspired by someone else’s creativity and originality. And, of course, I’d read for a while before going to sleep.

Those Sundays prime me to write on Monday, hoping that I too can take the ordinary details of life and create a story people will love.

How did the movie deal come about for The Scent of Rain and Lightning?

A woman named Cristi Twenter picked out the book to read during a road trip. She couldn’t put it down and told her husband, Casey, a screenwriter, “You have to make a movie of this!”

He, being a very good husband, read the book and agreed. It was a coincidence that all of us lived in Kansas City at the time, so Casey and I met for lunch. He and his screenwriting partner, Jeff Robison, did a first draft which impressed me.

And then?

I was even more impressed with the incredible job Casey and Jeff did on the second draft, so that time I made a few suggestions that they graciously accepted. Apart from that, I’ve kept my mouth shut, because I believe the movie is their independent work of art to create according to their vision.

In the meantime, Casey and his family moved to Oklahoma, which offers more incentives to the film industry, and where Jeff lives. They wrote and produced the independent film Rudderless, the first [theatrical] movie directed by William H. Macy. It was chosen as the closing film at Sundance in 2014, where it received two standing ovations.

I didn’t hear anything for a couple of years, and then Casey called to say he thought they’d solved the problems with the script, and they were in pre-production for the movie.

Who’s in the movie?

It’s a huge cast. Maika Monroe is playing Jody Linder, the central character. Her “mom” is Maggie Grace. They found actors who look enough alike to make a family resemblance believable. Brad Carter is Billy, and Will Patton and Bonnie Bedelia play Hugh Sr. and Annabelle, the grandparents.

What was it like to go on set and see your book become a movie?

I got to hug my own characters! It was the most surreal and wonderful thing—watching my novel come to life as a feature film.

When I first arrived on the set near Oklahoma City in the fall of 2015, an actress came up to me and introduced herself as Belle Linder, a character in the book, and hugged me. It was actually the actress Sarah Noble Peck, but she was “Belle” to me.

Aaron Poole plays Meryl and he spotted me during one of the meals. He jumped up from his table and came running over to give me a big hug, just like Meryl would, and he was even wearing Meryl’s trademark bolo tie. I felt like his mom in a way—I created him.

I saw actors in costume and makeup walk by and instantly recognized the characters. It was an odd and lovely feeling, like going to a family reunion and recognizing cousins I’d never actually met in the flesh before.

The schedule was grueling. Filming started at 3 in the afternoon Sunday and continued until 4 the next morning, although I didn’t stay that late. They served breakfast at 3:30 p.m. and lunch at 9:30 that evening.

We watched a tense scene of the sheriff, played by Blake Robbins, who’s also the movie’s director, confronting the Linders in their living room. There was take after take, from every angle.

One of the producers took us to a trailer where I watched the dailies from previous scenes.

The ranch house they’re using looks perfect and the owners were there, so it felt like a multi-dimensional site with different layers of reality. Here are the actors in real life, here are the actors in costume and makeup portraying the owners of the ranch house in the book, and here you have the real owners.

In Guthrie, Oklahoma, I’m an extra in one scene set in a local cafe, along with my son, his wife and my mystery writer friend Sally Goldenbaum. I’m in the movie for the blink of an eye, “eating breakfast” in a booth.Most movies end up making changes from the book. Is that tough?

I still sense the heart and soul of my story and my characters, though. I decided early on that the movie belongs to Casey and Jeff and to the wonderful director, Blake Robbins. My book is forever complete and all my own; it will always be as I wanted it to be.

You can see The Scent of Rain and Lightning at the following film festivals:

—Cleveland International Film Festival: March 29–April 9. Screening date: March 30.

—Kansas City Film Fest: April 5–9. Screening date: April 7.

—Newport Beach Film Festival: April 20–27. Screening date: TBD.

—Julien Dubuque International Film Festival: April 20–23. Screening date: TBD.

AMG/Parade Digital

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